[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[MeSue]

I'm still using Moon+ Reader on a Nexus 7, but will switch back to my iPad for reading if/when Marvin gets auto-scroll. One feature I like in Moon+ is the stats for reading time per book, reading speed, progress, etc. I would love to have detailed stats like this in Marvin.


(However, I doubt Moon's reading speed stats are accurate.)

[OverHaze]

Great little app. A two column view would be great as would support for collections. I'd really love to have the Wheel of Time series in their own space nicely organised.

Also is is feasible too allow user to add custom fonts to an ios app?

[kguil]

Clarification regarding Dropbox bug...

1) If your been using Dropbox before (you have already linked Marvin to DB), you can safely update. Your link will not be lost.
2) If you're a new user or have never linked DB before, linking won't work in 1.1.5.
3) The problem is already fixed and sent to Apple.
4) I recommend that you update to 1.1.5 anyway because it fixes a much more serious (albeit rare) bug that can corrupt Marvin. In the worst case you'll have to live without DB for about 5 days. You can always use alternative ways to get books in Marvin until the update reaches you.

[kguil]

Overhaze, I added custom fonts and collections to the wish list.

[OverHaze]

Thanks!

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by artbatista

You may find this hard to believe, but I found from personal experience, that for text PDF files, Mobipocket creator is the best PDF to other format converter I have seen.

Much superior to Calibre.

Try it, and you can then convert the MOBI files to ePub if you wish.

Nothing to be done for image PDF files....

You can find it here:

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/Downloa...sp?Language=EN

Cheers

Art

Thanks artbatista, I'll take a look

[Philantrop]

One problem I noticed is when I tried to select a sentence: I touched down on the first word and wanted to swipe right to select the rest but Marvin instead flipped to the next page.

[kguil]

Does this happen consistently? Sometimes iOS does that.

[Philantrop]

Ah, I think I got too used to iBooks-style selection: There, I touched down on the first word, keep my finger down and swipe to select. That consistently doesn't work in Marvin (but it would be nice if it did).

What *does* work is touching down, releasing and then using the standard selection markers.

[Faterson]

I think it does happen consistently, but I'd call that normal behaviour. After all, a swipe is meant to turn the page, and I'm happy that a small swipe in the desired direction is needed, anywhere on the screen, in order to turn the page. This is helpful for "one-handed reading", because you can both hold the iPad and flip pages with one hand. Try that with a book made of paper -- it's either impossible or a lot less comfortable.

To select text, I prefer to use the right-hand text-selection marker, dragging it to wherever needed. Plus, there are those very helpful and innovative +Word and Extend buttons in Marvin. (Although the Extend button currently doesn't work beyond the scope of a single sentence.)

[kguil]

Oh I see. Unfortunately, there's no way (I know of) to emulate that behaviour. Again, I think iBooks uses a special, reserved, version of the toolkit than what is made public.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by Philantrop

Ah, I think I got too used to iBooks-style selection: There, I touched down on the first word, keep my finger down and swipe to select. That consistently doesn't work in Marvin (but it would be nice if it did).

Interesting! Never noticed that. I've just also checked the Kindle app and it behaves the same way. Perhaps Marvin could also be instructed to differentiate the two events:

• swipe = flip page
• tap & hold & swipe = don't flip page, select text

[Faterson]

PS: ninja'd by Kris's reply again... well, if the two events can't be differentiated in Marvin, no big deal... There's always the text-selection marker, or the +Word and Extend buttons.

[kguil]

I'll look into it. However, this is a double edged sword. Using UIWebView gives me immense scope for flexible formatting and other cool tricks but has a few drawbacks such as the ones you mention.

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by kguil

Hi Jack,

The situation about the iPhone version is this. First, I'd like to stabilise the iPad version and make it as feature complete as possible. This means adding 2-column reading and Calibre support at least. I expect these to be out of the way by early January.

After that, I'll start working on the iPhone version. Whilst there is a lot of reusable stuff, Marvin has a completely custom UI so it isn't that straight forward. To answer your question, it will be some time in February or early March. I hope my answer isn't too disappointing.

Not in the least. Always worth waiting for a polished product. I hope you'll be charging for Marvin by then.

As an aside, I would like to compliment you on your logo design. It is simple and eye-catching, has great visual connotations of reading and librarians, and the red is a very nice break from the sea of blue that dominates iOS apps.